Elastic materials, formed into elastic films, are commonly used for a wide variety of applications. For example, disposable absorbent articles typically include one or more components that rely on film materials, especially elastic film materials, to control the movement of liquids and to provide a comfortable, conforming fit when the article is worn by a wearer.
It is often useful to use adhesives to attach these elastic materials to other parts of the diaper. For example, laminating the elastic material to one or more nonwovens can provide benefits such as desirable look and feel, or facilitate the attachment of said laminate to other parts of the diaper. Sometimes, however, the mechanical integrity of adhesive bonds between elastomer and nonwoven can undergo an undesirable decrease as time elapses during distribution, storage and warehousing of product. Decreases in adhesion strength can be caused by undesired chemical interactions between adhesive and elastomer, and can lead to the mechanical failure of the elastic laminate or portions of the diaper to which it is attached.
Unintended mechanical failure of an article or article component is almost always undesirable, but when the article is a disposable absorbent article such as a diaper or training pant, the consequences of mechanical failure may be especially undesirable as a consequence of the possibility of bodily exudates escaping from the article, or the article separating from the wearer. Further compounding the potential problems associated with conventional films, it may in some circumstances be desired to use thinner or lower basis weight films, to reduce material costs. Problems associated with the formation of tears, holes, and apertures in a film may be even more acute in thinner/lower basis weight films.
Compositions for films addressed to the above-described problems are described in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 13/026,533.
With respect to improving the failure resistance of a laminate including an elastomeric film, selecting the composition of the film may be one approach that may be employed. Further, improvements in the other materials forming the laminate may be pursued. There is always room for any improvement that is both cost effective and effective at improving failure resistance of the composite laminate. Improvements that are synergistic in way that enables conservation of material quantities while providing parity or improvement in failure resistance are welcome by manufacturers and users of such laminates.